Amazon fires people from Music team in fresh layoffs amid CEO Andy Jassy's cost-cutting campaign

Amazon layoffs: Amazon.com Inc. has begun cutting jobs in its Music division including its audio streaming platform and digital music storefront, as part of CEO Andy Jassy's efforts to cut costs across the company. It is still not clear how many jobs have been eliminated, however, employees in various countries received notices of layoffs on Wednesday. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the jobs targeted are in Amazon Music’s editorial and audio content team. Notably, in the past year, more than 27,000 employees of the retail giant were laid off.

What Amazon spokesperson says on fresh layoffs?

An Amazon spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company has been keeping a close eye on their organisational needs and has been prioritising what matters the most to customers keeping the businesses long-term health in mind. To fulfil this, some roles in the Amazon Music Team have been eliminated.

“Like many businesses, we have been closely monitoring our organizational needs and prioritizing what matters most to customers and the long-term health of our businesses,” said an Amazon spokesperson.  “As a result, some roles have been eliminated on the Amazon Music team. We will continue to invest in Amazon Music, and spend our resources on the products and services that matter most to customers, creators, and artists,” the spokesperson added.

The exact number of affected employees was not disclosed by the spokesperson. However, according to a Reuters report, workers in Latin America, North America, and Europe received notifications of their job terminations on Wednesday. 

The cuts to Amazon Music began in October, when the division eliminated communications roles, and are distinct from the earlier layoffs, according to another person familiar with the matter.

Amazon CEO cuts 9000 jobs

Amazon initiated its biggest-ever corporate job cuts last year, which it expanded to 27,000 positions across the company. 

Earlier in March, the tech giant confirmed its second round of layoffs and the jobs cuts affected more than 9,000 more employees. The next round of layoffs majorly impacted members in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch, the company CEO Andy Jassy said in a blog post.

Here is note by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy

Amazon CEO Jassy, in the blog, said, "As we've just concluded the second phase of our operating plan ("OP2") this past week, I'm writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks-mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch." Adding that the decision was difficult, he wrote that this is perhaps best for the company in the long term.

He said that as part of their annual planning process, leaders across the company, along with their teams, decide about future investments and prioritise "what matters most to customers and the long-term health of their businesses."

"For several years leading up to this one, most of our businesses added a significant amount of headcount. This made sense given what was happening in our businesses and the economy as a whole.  However, given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount," Jassy said.

"As our internal businesses evaluated what customers most care about, they made re-prioritization decisions that sometimes led to role reductions, sometimes led to moving people from one initiative to another, and sometimes led to new openings where we don’t have the right skills match from our existing team members.

This initially led us to eliminate 18,000 positions (which we shared in January); and, as we completed the second phase of our planning this month, it led us to these additional 9,000 role reductions (though you will see limited hiring in some of our businesses in strategic areas where we’ve prioritized allocating more resources)," he added.

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